


Destiny: Gunn, Wes, Sam and John

by yourlibrarian



Category: Angel: the Series, Supernatural
Genre: Fate & Destiny, Gen, Meta
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-02
Updated: 2016-05-02
Packaged: 2018-06-06 00:41:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 962
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6730300
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yourlibrarian/pseuds/yourlibrarian
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Identity, destiny, and the paths these characters take can take some odd loops.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Destiny: Gunn, Wes, Sam and John

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted September 18, 2007

In finishing off a rewatch of AtS with S5, I noted how J. August Richards said in an interview that Gunn was seduced by looking in the mirror and seeing who he wanted to be. And what struck me for the first time was how he apparently wanted to be Wesley. The arcane knowledge, the demon languages, the poise and sophistication (and such great suits, but I digress), all brought Gunn into Wesley's area of expertise. Of course Gunn didn't need the legal upgrade for anything but the knowledge itself. As we saw in "Players," Gunn was always capable of becoming the Bond type Wes aspired to be earlier in S1 and S2, and did it rather better than Wes. But a dissatisfaction with himself was something which was just as far a development for Gunn from the self-assured, mission-oriented character we met in S1, as it was for self-assured Wes from his rather buffoonish, needy S1 self.

Even while Fred called Wes "book man," in S5 it is Gunn who has become a walking encyclopedia and is just as much a researcher as Wes, albeit in a different area. And Wes, as has been more often noted, moved in his arc away from books and more to becoming a gun-toting street fighter (a strange move for a Watcher). During his exile in S4, he also runs his own gang. (In fact the whole issue of who those people are, how Wesley pays them, or if he pays them, and what happens to them once he returns to Angel Investigations, is as much of a dangling plot line to me as the cyberninjas of "Lineage"). I found it rather fascinating how Wes and Gunn end up crossing paths to step into one another's shoes, and what this may say about the way Fred moved from being involved with one to the other. For it seems exactly when Wes leaves and Fred becomes increasingly concerned with replacing his lost knowledge (and having to sub in for him) that this need to be something more starts becoming apparent in Gunn. How much of it, in the end, had to do with not being the sort of man Fred needed and wanted in a crisis? Even though in S5 Gunn and Fred have been separated and he barely interacts with her at all, the origin of this change seems to come in S4 exactly when both Gunn and Wes are losing their sense of who they are and what roles they are meant to play. 

I was also noticing that in the final scenes of NFA, as the group leaves Spike's apartment, it is only Gunn and Wes who exchange any sign of affection, and Illyria remains concerned with his welfare. By comparison, Lorne leaves without saying goodbye to anyone (his words to Angel are more a warning and explanation than any kind of personal farewell); Spike only speaks to Angel; and Angel, perhaps due to his recent estrangement with everyone, only acknowledges Wes' departure with a nod. According to Joss, it is only Wes and Gunn who have died for sure, but each in a way that puts them back where they began. Gunn is wounded but still triumphant over the enemy he knows best, and Wes is once more over his head in using his knowledge to defeat an enemy. Although there is a certain poetic closure to having come full circle, it does leave me wondering what the resulting message of this is? With, Gunn, Wes, and most clearly Fred/Illyria, being yourself leads to death and becoming someone else leads to becoming directionless and lost. What, then, are the options? 

I'll leave that hanging there for a bit while I mention (more briefly) that [a story I read](http://tigriswolf.livejournal.com/188061.html#cutid5) about Dean simply giving up after Sam's death, reverting to the mute boy he had once been after his mother's loss, made me think about the reverse. I think even before the S2 finale, most people would have predicted that Sam's death would have the effect of crumbling Dean from within. Post-S2 I think it's become difficult to imagine an alternate ending for him. But what if someone had murdered Dean? In Dean's mind Sam would mourn but go on, maybe even be better off by following the path he'd always wanted for himself.

I think instead the most fascinating thing might happen -- Sam would become his father. We certainly saw that tendency in S1. But however much Sam cared for Jess, she was a dream compared to the reality of Dean. I can't honestly see Sam ever reverting to "normal" after that, especially not after both John and Jess' deaths. I would love to see someone tackle a story where Sam becomes the relentless avenger John became, complete with dragging his own next generation along on his mission. Because however much Sam decried John's decisions, I actually think he would not, when confronted with the same choices, flinch (much) from doing the same. He may even tell himself he's not doing things as John did, but I can see that old pattern reasserting itself rather easily. In fact I can see that as his true destiny, more than anything the YED could have hoped for from him. Often it seems people fight against certain paths in their lives more to preserve a sense of choice than because it's something that doesn't come naturally. When whatever (or whoever) they're fighting against vanishes, it can lead to some strange turnarounds. And I really think Dean's loss would do that for Sam, because even if John's gone, in Sam's mind he lives on in Dean, and the faithfulness Dean represented. It's harder to be the "bad" son when the "good" son is no longer there.


End file.
